As I build Iconic Games, I keep noticing Māori women and Māori pakihi showing what is possible across so many lanes — education, tech, food, beauty, fashion, finance, photography, crochet, digital content, and creative business. They are showing up online, creating things, selling things, teaching things, feeding people, making art, and building brands. It reminds me that we are allowed to build big things too.
Building a company can feel lonely, especially in the early stages when most of the mahi is invisible. What keeps me going is watching other Māori founders do it in public — imperfectly, consistently, and on their own terms. This post is a thank-you to some of the people whose journeys I have been learning from.
The people I keep learning from
These are not rankings, and none of these pakihi have any connection to Iconic Games. They are simply creators and businesses whose public mahi has inspired me while I build.
- Māori Millionaire — for making kōrero about money, saving, and financial confidence feel accessible and normal for our people.
- Pepi Eats — for showing how kai, whānau, and business can grow together from a real kitchen table.
- Its Tuushy — for backing a brand with personality and doing it unapologetically.
- Photography by Jay — for capturing our people beautifully and building a creative business behind the lens.
- Crochet Bae — for turning handmade craft into a brand people genuinely love.
- Millie Holmes — for showing up consistently and letting people watch the journey.
- CWK Nix — for creating with style and proving that community and commerce can live in the same place.
- Lisa Perese-Cullen — for building in the digital and product space and showing what creator-led business can look like.
- Charis Tutaki — for building across beauty and fashion and backing more than one idea at once.
What they all have in common
Courage, mostly. Every one of these journeys started before it was safe or certain. They put their names and faces on their mahi. They kept posting when nobody was watching. They treated their identity as a strength, not something to sand off for a wider market.
And visibility matters. Every Māori founder who builds in public makes the next one more possible. A rangatahi scrolling their phone tonight might see a Māori businesswoman explaining her craft — and quietly file away the idea that this path exists.
We are allowed to build big things. We do not need permission from traditional gatekeepers to start.